Reviews// NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

Problem the third: Wii means nothing. When you first heard that NiGHTS 2 was Wii-bound, you likely envisaged a control scheme where the Wii Remote would become the physical representation of NiGHTS and you could just move the Remote as you’d like NiGHTS to fly. Well so did I. But that’s not what Sonic Team USA had in mind – or if it is what the developer originally planned, it apparently didn’t have the nous (nowse?) to calibrate such an intuitive system. Instead, the Journey of Dreams' Wii Remote control setup uses the cheapest and most embarrassing of Wii development tricks: it uses the Remote as a pointer.

So, you point the Remote at the screen and a cursor shows up. You point the cursor towards the direction you want NiGHTS to take, and then hold [A] to push NiGHTS towards the cursor. In theory that’s not a terrible solution, but in practice it is.

Try paralooping with this system and unless you’re happy to use the Remote like you’re turning a key (which isn’t very comfortable, and isn’t fun either), NiGHTS will end up stuttering to a halt. Which, of course, goes completely against everything that Naka-san’s original NiGHTS stood for – fluidity of movement, dreamy gameplay and crisp controls. If you’re thinking of getting Journey of Dreams to experience NiGHTS with the ‘benefit’ of Wii Remote controls, don’t bother.

Fourth issue: the graphics. This one is only half a problem, to be fair. The issue is that in places Journey of Dreams is an eligible candidate for Ugliest Game of the Year, on any format.

The platforming levels are woeful – the gameplay is first-generation PlayStation fare, the graphics are N64 level. The central area of the game, where access to Nightopias is gained, is even uglier. Textures are blurred and warped; jaggies are sharp enough to cut yourself on, and even then the frame-rate stutters.

It looks pathetic. Things pick up noticeably when NiGHTS is airborne, and there are some pretty stages dotted about, but in general the presentation here is poor.

And that’s where my complaints abruptly end, which is why Journey of Dreams is not a complete disaster: there are still some good things to say about it.

The game’s most obvious strength is – no surprise to me, but perhaps surprisingly to Sonic Team USA – its flying levels. Obviously.

Journey of Dreams supports the Nunchuk, so you can use its analogue stick instead of faffing about with the pointy Wii Remote controls, but the Classic Controller or the good old GameCube pad are superior options.